(From NFTD Archives)
...none too happy; the state is legally, lethally and gleefully shooting them up to death with poison on a very regular basis, (wrestle the convict to the floor, pepper mace spray him if you must and then strap his struggling body - yelling for Mommy,to Freddy Leuchter's gurney) and - voila- setting records of a dubious nature - in my opinion.
It's nothing to boast about that you're number one in the country for number of executions. Even if you're pro-execution, which I am not, it seems a stretch to look at them as though they were some kind of badge of honor; and if you're anti-death penalty, which I am also not, you will notice the swiftness of frontier justice is outpacing all appeals - 15 men have died by lethal injection this year in Texas alone, and even though often I feel, well, good enough for them the dirty bastards for the heinous and nasty crimes they've pulled, I don't think capital punishment is the answer. What is the answer? Good question. How to stop killers from killing and the state from killing the killers?
MOST of the people I know have been in (or are in) jail and I don't know anybody who ever got rehabilitated in prison, at least as the general public might define rehabilitate; they were/are changed individuals to be sure, but rehabilitated they ain't. The prison system is set up to punish not mete out GEDs to Little Lord Fauntleroys.
Knock on wood, I've been in lots of prisons but never been sent to one, yet,well, jail, but prisons and jails are different and I hope I never am in a prison and one jail was plenty; prison is an experience I'd like to forego based on what I've seen, heard, read and can nightmarishly imagine.
There are no immediate plans in my life to blow anybody away so I won't be going down for murder; prison staring me in the face IS a major deterrent but I'm not sure the death penalty is, plus murder is not my style. Mercy, I can't imagine having the nerve to shoot/stab/beat/ somebody to death for anything.
I don't hate anybody! In self-defense I don't think I'd hesitate if I had a gun or a tree limb whatever it takes, and - hero-wannabe that I am, I like to think that if YOU were in terrible straits and I could help I would even if it meant knocking off your assailant, but generally I'm a peaceable guy & little physical mayhem trails in my wake, though havoc I have wreaked.
...and even though in my heart of hearts I know it isn't right that the state take the life of another, when I read that So & So was put to death last night for the crime of murdering an old woman in a botched stickup my reaction was '...too bad...couldn't happen to a nicer guy...'
...then on to the crossword.
No comments:
Post a Comment